"As great a victory as we celebrate here today, there's more work to be done. Things can get better," Harris said.

The measure, approved last month during the General Assembly's lame-duck session, lets gays and lesbians use civil unions as a way to enjoy several of the same rights as people who are married, ranging from sharing a nursing home room to being involved in dramatic end-of-life decisions.

The law takes effect June 1 once signed. It also applies to heterosexual couples, signifying a step short of marriage.

The lengthy bill signing ceremony took place at a packed Chicago Cultural Center.

Within the first 48 hours of Quinn announcing he would sign the measure, more than 700 peopled RSVP'd to attend the event. The governor's office expects such a large turnout that it has reserved an overflow room that will broadcast a live feed in case the main hall gets too crowded.

The Chicago Gay Men's chorus performed and the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by openly gay veterans. "We are just so excited to join the handful of states that recognize equality," said Quinn spokeswoman Brie Callahan.

Last month, Quinn declared the legislature's approval a "proud day for the people of our state and the families of our state."

But several opponents said civil unions equate to gay marriage, and many questioned why the post-election vote took place when the state is in a financial mess.

"We are the incompetence laughing stock of government mismanagement and misplaced priorities, and our one-party (Democratic) leadership spends our time on homosexual civil unions," Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, at the time.

Supporters defeated a heavy opposition lobbying effort led by the Catholic Conference of Illinois, which is headed by Cardinal Francis George.

Thousands of people on both sides of the issue sent e-mails, visited legislators and made phone calls. A Tribune poll conducted in late September showed 57 percent approved of legalizing civil unions while 32 percent disapproved.

Since the civil unions measure passed, Democrats also led approval of a death-penalty ban that Quinn has yet to act on, and a major income tax increase that he quickly signed.

Comments

Well this is just fantastic... now homosexual couples in Illinois will have the opportunity to experience some of the same civil, legal protections, rights and responsibilities that heterosexual couples experience... this really is a horrible day for the state when loving, committed couples are treated as "sorta' equal to" other loving, committed couples. What's next? Homosexual couples wanting the special right of not being openly derided?

Pretty soon this state will stray so far from the Christian Bible that shellfish will be legalized and women will be allowed to be in public during their time of impurity... they were cursed with it for a reason, people! WAKE UP!

The sad thing about most of the comments posted here against today's bill signing is that they represent a complete lack of knowledge and understanding as to the positive effect many Illinois residents will see, both social and economic. When your primary source of information has been the lies, straw man arguments and fear tactics of the opponents of such legislation, you're bound to sound as ignorant as those who propagate them.

Educated citizens, who look beyond the false arguments of the anti-equality set, see today's action for what it is: the recognition of equal rights and the American dream as something that all Illinois families are entitled to strive for. We're more American today as a result!

As many as 80% of Americans wanted, and GOT DADT revoked, Cheeseking. The clear majority of Americans who are NOT hateful and fearful of their fellow Americans who are LGBT will not help you revoke this small step toward the Equal Protection Under The Law that the US Constitution guarantees.

A great day for Illinois. I'm so proud of everyone who worked so hard to make this happen. To those with biblical references protesting this- I highly doubt any of you follow all of Leviticus (eat any shrimp lately?). If the rules you don't like in that part of the Bible are antiquated- so are the ones you use to justify hate. Our happiness has nothing to do with your marriage.

Civil equality helps everyone and hurts No one. The haters have No evidence to support they're prejudice against gay people NONE...only religious bigotry, innuendo, and lies. There is no other side to this argument anymore. Bravo to the leaders of my home state for being on the right side of justice and equality for ALL!

I'm horrified at some of the comments here. How do you anti-gay people live with yourselves? Look at what you're writing here. It's beyond my ability to comprehend how you could be so nasty. Everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly under the law. This is not a theocracy. Your religious views are not law. You must accept the fact that some people are not like you and do not follow your religion. In a free country, that's how it works.

The state should not license Marriage. The state should only do Civil Ceremonies / Civil Unions. Remove the words Married, Marriage from our legal and tax codes. Separation of church and state, remember? Let the churches define Marriage however they want and confine it to whomever they want. So long as it's religious and not legal, who really cares?

I am straight but think this is long overdue. I know gay couples who are as committed to their significant other than straight couples. This is about giving two people who love each other the same rights as a hetero couple has. Look at the divorce rates now, how is that so much better or more moral? People need to grow up and get over their misplaced homophobia and stop using the bible, a book written by a bunch of guys with no idea about science but a lot of fear of the different, as a crutch to deny people basic rights all people should share.

I do not understand why people always bring up religion. Religion doesn’t have any place in government policies. Gay civil unions or gay marriage has nothing to do with religion. Marriage has a biblical aspect to it once religion is involved but since the government is separated from the church gay marriage has nothing to do with the bible or religion. Government marriage and has nothing to do with religion marriage. It's separate, so using the Bible, as an argument is a weak one at best.

Also, if you're going to take the time to say something negative about civil unions try to use spell check and make sure it makes sense grammatically because if you don't you just look uneducated and your post doesn't have any room in this feed.

I am glad the Gay Community finally has a Illinois Governor who is willing to take action on meeting their needs. Illinois finally has a Governor who is actually listening to the needs of the voters and taking meaningful action. Good for you Governor Quinn; it is about time Illinois has a governor who has the courage to do the right thing and is not afraid of doing their job. God bless you and your staff.

Can't our Govener sign this at his desk...why do they have to have a ceremony for these bills he signs. Giving away pens to all that stand around, patting each other on the back for all the hard work they've doing on the behalf of the people of Illinois

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

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Clout has a special meaning in Chicago, where it can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This exercise of political influence in a uniquely Chicago style was chronicled in the Tribune cartoon "Clout Street" in the early 1980s. Clout Street, the blog, offers an inside look at the politics practiced from Chicago's City Hall to the Statehouse in Springfield, through the eyes of the Tribune's political and government reporters.